mpe wrote:
IMHO "shy" and "outgoing" are not the same thing as "introverted" and "extroverted". So it's possible to have people who are "outgoing introverts" or "shy extroverts".
Where the complication comes in is that people with some form of social anxiety tend to find social situations draining because of the anxiety. Thus a socially anxious extrovert may end up on balance still losing energy from social interaction.
Though I can't think of a situation where an introvert might appear extrovert.
I didn't say they were the same thing, I said extraverts are considered outgoing, because most are. Shy is generally synonymous with introverted and outgoing with extroverted, because that's how they most often occur; you don't generally see shy extraverts and extraverts aren't likely to be diagnosed with SAD. They like interaction, so social anxiety generally isn't an issue; neither is losing energy through social interaction, because that goes against their personality. If they're being socially drained, then they're not extroverted; they're introverted instead. I won't say it's impossible to be a shy extravert or outgoing introvert, but it's certainly not likely. You also have to factor in whether the person has an undiagnosed condition. For example, how would an introverted (untreated) ADHD person present? They would likely present as a "shy extravert." Shyness is anxiety, so if an extravert is experiencing it, I would wonder whether it's due to their personality (which is unlikely) or to an undiagnosed disorder (which is more likely).
I'm studying psychology so I've spent a lot of time researching personality psychology and analyzing the differences displayed by people and I've not once seen a true shy extravert or an outgoing introvert, because by definition of the words, it's nearly impossible (not to mention that it's an oxymoron). An outgoing introvert could simply be an introvert with good people skills (and thus very likeable, and is then talkative to people who talk to them), the way it's possible for extraverts to have bad people skills. Now some people say they're ambiverted (I'm not sure if I completely believe in this, as most people do tend lend toward one side most of the time) or cannot tell if they're introverted or extravert, so perhaps that's what you're describing. These people seem to be the ones who often categorize themselves as "shy extraverts" or "outgoing introverts." If you go to a forum about personality types, such Personality Cafe, and find a thread on this topic, you'll find people stating they're extroverted or introverted, but when you check the personality type they've decided on, it'll be the opposite. So what's likely happening here is what I mentioned before - they simple cannot tell whether they're introverted or extroverted. One would need to consider the other functions of their personality type (I'm talking about MBTI here) and as I mentioned before, any undiagnosed conditions. Another reason is that people generally don't know the actual definitions of the words introverted, extroverted, shyness, and outgoing, so it's possible they're confusing the terms and that's why they don't know whether they're introverted or extroverted.
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Diagnosed with ADHD combined type (02/09/16) and ASD Level 1 (04/28/16).
16 Jan 2015, 8:45 pm
